Manga Math Mysteries 8: The Runaway Puppy: A Mystery with Probability (Graphic Universe) Read online

  by Lydia Barriman

  illustrated by Becky Grutzik

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  Intentionally

  Graphic UniverseTM • Minneapolis • new York

  JoY

  Medina

  adaM

  BreGMan

  ToM

  Johnson

  sTacY

  lowicki

  saM

  carTer

  Michelle

  carTer

  aMY

  sifU

  TsanG

  faiza

  Mr.

  Mrs.

  TsanG

  TsanG

  Probability is the chance that something will happen. It’s often helpful to know if an outcome is likely or unlikely. Probability uses numbers to help us decide how likely an outcome is. We can think of probability as a fraction, or a part, of the total number of possible outcomes.

  When we flip a coin and call heads or tails, we’re using probability. The coin has just 2 sides, so the chance of the coin landing on heads is 1 in 2. The probability of it landing on tails is also 1 in 2. We know they are equally likely outcomes. When we roll dice, there are more possible outcomes. A die has 6

  sides, so the probability of rolling a certain number is 1 in 6.

  Story by Lydia Barriman

  Pencils and inks by Becky Grutzik

  Coloring by Hi-Fi Design

  Lettering by Grace Lu

  Copyright © 2011 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.

  Graphic Universe™ is a trademark of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.

  All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—

  electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.

  Graphic Universe™

  A division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.

  241 First Avenue North

  Minneapolis, MN 55401 U.S.A.

  Website address: www.lernerbooks.com

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Barriman, Lydia.

  The runaway puppy : a mystery with probability / by Lydia Barriman ; illustrated by Becky Grutzik.

  p. cm. — (Manga math mysteries ; #8)

  Summary: When Amy's puppy runs away, the kung fu students make a bar chart showing places the dog is most familiar with and how often she has visited them in order to determine the probability of where she might be.

  ISBN: 978–0–7613–4910–5 (lib. bdg. : alk. paper) 1. Graphic novels. [1. Graphic novels. 2. Mystery and detective stories.

  3. Mathematics—Fiction. 4. Lost and found possessions—Fiction. 5. Dogs—

  Fiction. 6. Animals—Infancy—Fiction. 7. Kung fu—Fiction.] I. Grutzik, Becky, ill.

  II. Title.

  PZ7.7.B37Run 2011

  741.5'973—dc22

  2010001432

  Manufactured in the United States of America 1 – DP – 7/15/10

  eISBN: 978-0-7613-6229-6

  Did Amy

  say why she

  wanted us

  to come to

  her house?

  She just

  said to meet

  her in her

  backyard

  because

  she has a

  surprise.

  Close

  the

  gate!

  5

  Brada,

  you silly

  dog!

  Amy, you

  got a

  puppy!

  Why’s

  her name

  Brada?

  She’s

  great!

  It’s short for

  Bradamante. That’s

  the name of one

  of Charlemagne’s

  knights.

  Shar-luh-mayn?

  Who’s that?

  Bradamante was

  Charlemagne

  He had two

  one of the bravest

  was a

  knights who

  knights in the kingdom.

  legendary

  were brother

  She also had golden hair.

  king, like

  and sister:

  King Arthur.

  Rinaldo and

  Bradamante.

  Brada has

  gold hair,

  and nothing She’d explore

  scares her.

  the whole

  neighborhood

  if we didn’t

  make sure

  the gate was

  latched.

  Here,

  Brada!

  Good

  girl!

  Michelle,

  you can keep

  her company

  while we get

  her food.

  OK!

  7

  How is

  Shhhh.

  your mom

  Mom’s

  feeling?

  taking

  a nap.

  Much

  better. The doctor says

  she can go back

  to work soon.

  She even takes

  I’m glad

  Brada for a walk

  she’s better.

  every day.

  Thanks

  for

  asking.

  Oh no!

  8

  Hahahahaha!

  Oh, Michelle! I worked hard

  to rake those leaves. Now

  I’ll rake

  I’ll have to do it again.

  them. It’s

  only fair.

  I’m sorry.

  We were

  just having

  fun.

  I’m

  not sure

  you have

  time. We’re

  supposed to

  meet Sifu

  soon.

  It took me

  all morning

  to rake those

  leaves by

  myself.

  If we all

  work together,

  how long do

  you think it

  will take?

  9

  We’ll work together

  It doesn’t

  for as long as we can,

  take very

  and we’ll see how

  long to

  much we get done.

  rake the

  leaves when

  Mom and Dad

  and I work

  together,

  but I can’t

  remember

  exactly

  how long.

  We need to leave

  right now, or

  If it’s OK

  we’ll be late.

  with your

  parents,

  we can come

  back and

  OK. I can

  help you

  rake all the

  finish, Amy.

  small piles

  into a big one

  after kung

  fu class.

  Maybe we

  can invite

  Joy, Tom,

  and Stacy.

  I’m sure

  they’d like

  to meet

  Brada too.

 
10

  Amy, I’ve

  never seen

  you working

  alone in

  your garden.

  Your mom

  is always

  there.

  We always

  used to

  work in the

  garden as a

  family, but

  Mom’s been

  too sick.

  Dad and I

  said we’d work

  together to

  keep the house Dad took care

  nice for her.

  of the inside,

  and I took care

  of the outside.

  Now Mom’s better,

  and when she’s

  ready to garden again,

  all her plants will be

  waiting for her.

  11

  Hi!

  We’ve just

  finished putting

  Are we early?

  Hi, guys!

  up new shelves.

  Where’s Joy?

  You’re just

  The kung fu

  in time!

  studio is going

  to look better

  than ever!

  ding-

  dong

  We’re

  definitely

  not early.

  12

  Hello,

  Children!

  Hi, Sifu!

  Thank

  you for

  coming

  to help.

  We’re going

  to put

  this gear

  on the

  shelves,

  but

  let’s get

  organized

  first.

  13

  We want to put the things

  we use most often in a place

  What are we most

  where they are easy to

  likely to use on any

  reach. So let’s figure out

  given day?

  how often we use each type

  of kung fu gear.

  This is kind

  of like a

  probability

  That’s right,

  problem.

  Adam. We want

  to know the

  probability

  that we’ll use

  each typE of

  gear.

  This is last

  month’s class

  calendar. The

  pictures tell us

  which type of

  gear we used on

  each day.

  14

  I see four different

  pictures. So each day,

  we used one of four

  types of gear.

  Which things

  did we use?

  I’ll write

  them down.

  On any given day,

  we used focus

  mitts, jump ropes,

  helmets, or

  striking pads.

  There are 4

  possible types

  of gear used.

  Focus mitts

  Jump ropes

  Helmets

  Striking pads

  Now, can you tell which

  kind of gear we’re

  MOST LIKELY to use?

  Twelve days

  have focus mitts.

  That’s way more

  than any other

  kind of equipment.

  So we’re MOST

  That’s

  LIKELY to use

  correct.

  those.

  I’ll count

  the jump

  ropes.

  There are 4 possible

  types of gear used.

  Focus mitts: 12 days

  Jump ropes

  Helmets

  Striking pads

  We are most likely

  to use focus mitts.

  I’ll count

  the helmets.

  There are 6

  days when we used

  jump ropes.

  We used

  helmets

  on 6 days

  too!

  Focus mitts: 12 days

  Jump ropes: 6 days

  Helmets: 6 days

  Striking pads

  We are most likely

  to use focus mitts.

  That means

  we’re equally

  likely to use

  jump ropes or

  helmets.

  I don’t

  think we

  use striking

  pads often

  at all.

  We only used

  striking pads

  twice. So we’re

  least likely to

  use striking

  pads.

  17

  Focus mitts: 12 days

  Jump ropes: 6 days

  That’s all

  Helmets: 6 days

  the different

  Striking pads: 2 days

  kinds of

  pictures.

  We’ve counted

  We are most likely

  all the kinds

  to use focus mitts.

  of gear we’ve

  used.

  We are equally likely

  to use jump ropes or

  helmets.

  We are least likely to

  use striking pads.

  Now Amy, Tom,

  Stacy, Joy, and

  Adam can put the

  gear away.

  Put the gear

  we’re most

  likely to need

  where it’s

  easiest to

  reach. The gear

  we’re least

  likely to use

  can go on the

  shelf that’s

  hardest to

  reach.

  Sam, Michelle,

  will you help

  me clean the

  rest of the

  school?

  18

  The things we put

  up high will be the

  hardest thing to get

  down, so we’ll put the

  gear we’re least likely

  to use up there.

  How have you

  been, Amy?

  Good!

  I have

  a new

  puppy.

  Oh cool!

  I’ve

  always

  wanted

  a puppy.

  You guys

  If my

  can come

  parents say

  too.

  it’s OK, you

  can come

  over and

  meet her.

  . . . if you

  don’t

  mind

  helping

  us rake

  some

  leaves . . .

  19

  Sifu, we used

  . . . but we

  last month’s

  don’t know

  calendar to

  that this

  decide which gear

  month will

  we used most.

  be just

  like last

  month . . .

  That’s

  right,

  Sam.

  That’s

  true.

  Probabilities can only tell us what’s likely to happen in the future. This month might be completely different from last month.

  Maybe after we use

  Imagine, though, how hard it

  the equipment for

  would be to decide where to put

  a while, we’ll decide

  everything if we hadn’t had the

  this arrangement

  calendar. We would have had to

  doesn’t work and

  make wild guesses.

  make changes.

  Something

&nb
sp; like that

  happened

  today . . .

  20

  Today, we wanted

  to know how long

  it would take to

  rake a pile of leaves, We had to guess,

  but Amy couldn’t

  but our guess

  remember.

  wasn’t very

  accurate.

  There are tricks to

  remembering. It helps some

  people to make lists. Some

  people like to draw

  pictures.

  If you know you have

  to remember something,

  the best way is to write it

  down before you forget.

  Sifu, may we

  use your

  Of course,

  Thank you,

  phone to call

  Amy.

  children. Now,

  our parents?

  let’s have

  some lunch.

  Thank

  Good-bye!

  you for

  I’ll see

  lunch,

  you in

  Sifu!

  class.

  I’m so

  glad our

  parents

  said yes!

  It’s been

  forever

  since I’ve

  had friends

  over.

  Dad’s bringing

  us a pizza

  soon, but Mom

  might still be

  sleeping. Let’s

  stay in the

  backyard for a

  little while.

  Oh no!

  Brada!

  I must have

  forgotten

  to latch the

  gate. She’s

  gone!

  We’ll help

  you find

  She

  her, Amy. Is

  must’ve

  that her

  rubbed it

  collar?

  off.

  It’s dangerous for

  her to be outside the

  fence. She could get

  Then we’ll

  hit by a car, or--

  have to

  find her

  fast.

  I want to

  Let’s

  look right

  make a

  now.

  list of

  places

  to look.

  Joy’s right,

  Amy. We’ll

  find her

  faster if

  we take a

  moment to

  think.

  23

  Let’s

  How would

  make a

  we know

  list of

  that?

  all the

  places

  Brada is

  likely

  to be.

  We do what we did

  this morning. We use what

  we know about the past

  Where do you take

  to guess the future.

  Brada when you

  walk her, Amy?

  Sometimes

  we go to

  the park . . .

  Yesterday, I

  took her to

  the pool . . .

  I just can’t

  remember. I’m so

  worried about

  Brada.

  24

  That’s only

  We don’t have much

  two places.

  time before Dad